A German grocery chain with the power to cripple Aldi, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's is about to invade America

A rendering of Lidl's first US store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Lidl A highly competitive European grocery chain is about to descend on the US.

The German supermarket chain Lidl is gearing up to open 100 stores along the East Coast by mid-2018, with the first 20 stores opening this summer in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The chain plans to eventually open as many as 600 stores in the US, according to a copy of a company presentation obtained by Business Insider. Lidl currently has 10,000 stores in 27 European countries.

In the presentation, Lidl describes itself as a cross between Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter, a grocery chain based in North Carolina.

Overseas, Lidl is known for its rock-bottom prices, and it's most closely associated with the discount grocer Aldi, which is also based in Germany.

But it appears Lidl is trying to set itself apart from Aldi in the US.

"After three years of research, we discovered that US consumers don't like discount groceries," the presentation says. "Unlike Aldi, the Lidl will be a hybrid similar to Trader Joe's or Harris Teeter, but closer to a Trader Joe's. We will sell high-end brands, quality not quantity, best products only."

Locally sourced products, wine, and coffee will be focuses of the US stores, according to the presentation, which was provided to residents of a Maryland community where Lidl is building a store.

Lidl's US stores are expected to be between 30,000 and 36,000 square feet, which is about twice as large as an Aldi store, but smaller than a traditional supermarket like Kroger, which averages about 77,000 square feet.

The chain's US headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia, and it's building warehouses in Cecil County, Maryland; Mebane, North Carolina; and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Lidl and Aldi have expanded rapidly in the UK over the past several years and upended its grocery-store market, sending its largest supermarket chains into a price war.

In the most recent quarter, both Lidl's and Aldi's sales soared, increasing by 7.5% and 12%, respectively, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Meanwhile, sales grew modestly or fell at the UK's four biggest supermarket chains. Sales increased by 1.3% at Tesco and by 1.2% at Morrisons, and declined at Asda and Sainsbury's by 2.4% and 0.1%, respectively.

Lidl and Aldi have been increasing their market share over the past few years at the expense of the so-called big four supermarkets in the UK.

Like rival Aldi, Lidl keeps prices low by limiting inventory to a lean selection of private-label items, whereas traditional supermarkets tend to carry several brands of a single product.

Lidl keeps prices low in the UK by selling a limited assortment of private-label goods and investing less in customer service and merchandising than traditional grocers.

Most of the stores' products are displayed in their shipping cartons to make restocking quick and easy, which means fewer workers are needed on the sales floor.

Lidl also saves money by requiring customers to bring their own shopping bags and bag their own groceries.

In addition to groceries, Lidl sells appliances and furniture, and it debuted a women's clothing collection in August 2014 that sold out in the first three days. The collection included a faux-leather jacket for £15 (about $19) and chiffon blouses.

Since then, the retailer has launched a men's collection, a line of handbags, and a fitness brand.

But Lidl will have a lot of work to do to catch up to Aldi in the US, which now has more than 1,600 stores in the country with plans to open another 600 within the next couple of years.